Magical Guardian
by BlackSwanSong
Summary: In a world full of people, Magical beings, and Hunters, Akari is the last hope for the Divine tree to survive, but with all of the hunters after her, and a curse that haunts her, will Wizard be the only one who can help? Rated T for violence. Chap.2 in.
1. Prologue Crystal

OK. Now I know that I'm already behind on some other stories enough as it is, but I had a new fresh idea and couldn't help but make another story! O^O" Forgive me please! I also hope that you will like this one, *sigh* I can only hope… T^T

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story. All Harvest Moon characters belong to their rightful owners in Natsume Production, and now for the story!

Please enjoy~ ^^

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Prologue- Crystal

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_(Several Years ago…)_

Twilight shined in the sky above as a light shined in the distance, and there, a bare tree stood alone with the small creatures of nature gathered around with light sobs of despair. Harvest sprites, that's what they were called. They were little fairy-like creatures; the clothes they wear representing the colors of the rainbow. The sprites were hugging a being covered in light, choking words out as it glowed.

"P-Please…! *hic* Harv-vest G-Goddess! D-Don't leave *sob* us yet!" An orange clothed sprite whimpered out pleas to the light that was growing fainter by the minute.

During that moment, Wizard was closing into the area where he was called for. He stopped at the same spot where the sprites were crying out to the vague figure. A soft voice emitted from the bright light, and from hearing his name, Wizard moved closer to being, and in the light, a faint shape was outlined. A womanly body outlined in blue was barley seeable as the outline faded in and out every few seconds, but with careful examination, you can easily tell that it was the Harvest Goddess.

"Wiza..rd…. You're…here" The voice belonged to the fading figure of the Harvest Goddess. "It…seems…that.. my… time… has… run out… for ..the ..time ….be..ing." the voice was nothing but a quiet whisper.

Wizard looked up, a hint of regret shown on his face, for the fact that he wasn't able to do much to stop this from happening. The slightly distorted face gave a light smile to ease his emotions, and reached her hands out to him. Wizard looked up in slight curiosity as to what she was doing. A bright light full of power escaped from her hands and the magical power that came out circled into a sphere. The lights circled faster and faster, until a clear shape was detectable once the lights stopped spinning.

In her hands was a crystal, shaped into a diamond, lights reflecting off the sides like the twilight above them. Inside of the crystal, another womanly shape was figured, though this wasn't the Harvest Goddess, no, it was a young girl. The girl's body was in a graceful position, on leg straight down and the other propping up slightly, her arms were floating by her sides as she was giving off a bright light as well, but more in the shade of hope than disappearance. Her facial features were calm, a small smile on her face, eyes closed as if she's asleep, and her short, pricked hair still, almost like a picture. Wizard's attention was brought back to the Harvest Goddess as she started to speak again.

"Wizard… It's not too…. late, this… holds a ….young … girl who… can help, but… be warned, she… is a magical… being as well… and she… holds a curse… despite… being the… purest… soul I've … ever seen…" The Harvest Goddess murmured, and Wizard only gave a small nod in response. The Harvest Goddess handed the crystal to Wizard, and he only stared at the crystal floating in his hands.

"Well… that's…. the ….last… of my… magic… I… must … return…. to….. the… depths… of… my… pon…..d….." Her words started to break apart as her shape was starting to disappear. The sprites jumped up in panic and surrounded her fading body, the cries from them growing more and more frantic.

"I'm….. sorr* my *riends….. I…. beg… of y*u to… take car* of her wh*n … she gets h*re…..*oodb*e…." Her voice stopped and the outlined figure vanished. The light that was there faded with her and the large tree turned into the color of death, a hard black/gray shade.

Wizard looked down to the Harvest sprites, their faces darkened in desperation, but they knew, Wizard could sense it, the sprites understood what their objective is, and soon, their faces gave way to determined expressions.

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_(A couple years later...)_

"That's it! It's been forever! Where's the so called the-destined-future-saver girl?" Witch yelled to no one in particular. Wizard was the only one there, but ignored her like she was nothing but a spec of dust. This made Witch infuriated. She marched up to Wizard and placed herself in front of his view.

"Hey! Aren't you going to do something about this? It's quite obvious that the crystal she gave you was wrong, and here we are just wasting time sitting here doing nothing, when we probably could've revived it by ourselves!" Nothing came out of Wizard; he just sat there reading his astrology book. Witch's veins were very visible by then.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?" Witch screamed at the top of her lungs, but again, no answer. Witch gave a frustrated groan, but stopped as a plan pops in her head.

"O.K. then, fine, don't help me, I'll just revive the stupid tree by myself." Witch started to leave Wizard's house with her nose in the air. That's when Wizard gave an answer; he knew this will not go well.

Wizard followed Witch out of his house and to the Divine Tree, the Harvest Goddess's tree. Witch pulled out her spell book she kept in handy, and started to flip through the pages.

"I don't… think… that's… a good… idea." Wizard warned, but Witch gave no heed to it and started reciting the spell.

Witch's voice echoed out towards the tree, the words peeling off the page and slowly moving forward to her destination. When the words almost reached the tree, the words suddenly jumped backwards and aimed themselves at Witch. Witch gave a gasp right before a large puff of pink swallowed her up. Wizard looked outwards as he waved the puff of smoke away from his face, coughing in the process. He stared at the spot where Witch once was, and what replaced her, a pink frog. Wizard only gave a blank stare at the frog version of Witch as she started jumping upwards croaking in anger.

"Maybe… this will… teach…. you about patients…" Wizard stated with little emotion, and just simply walked away back to his house.

Wizard made it back to his house, giving no concern to Witch, even in her frog-like state, she'll still be able to get into her own house, besides, she knew what was coming, just not smart enough to understand it. Wizard walked over to his crystal ball, and stared at the figure covered in a velvet blanket. He pulled the blanket off and stared at the crystal hidden underneath. The young girl has not changed one bit, looking exactly the same as she was on the day she was handed to him; it was obvious why she didn't change though, as of being a magical being himself, he didn't change at all since that day either.

Wizard placed the blanket back over the crystal and moved his thoughts to the Divine Tree. The tree was getting weaker, the magic that was hidden within it to keep it alive, it's starting to fade. The Goddess is going to be cleaned off from existence if the magic completely disappears from the tree, she then will be no more. He noticed people today didn't believe in her, the sprites, or that even magical being existed, and those who did, hunted them down.

Wizard looked up at the sky and gave a faint wish, a wish hoping that the pure-hearted one will be here soon.

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I hope this is okay to you guys. ^^ This just came up in my head, so I'm like, "I must type this down or it'll dissapear!" I hope you'll stay for the story too! ^_^


	2. Chapter 1 The Arrival of the Savior

Well, here's the official first chapter for this story! ^.^ I hope that those who are reading this is okay with it so far~ and please **review** if you can! ^o^

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story. All Harvest Moon characters belong to their rightful owners in Natsume Productions. Okay! To the story!

Enjoy~

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Chapter 1- The Arrival of the Savior

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Akari stared at the dull sky out her window as she fiddled with a cowlick that was sticking up like a sore thumb. She knew that today is the day that she must escape this miserable city. The polluted air, the hunters, and the small beggar children that roam these forsaken streets are finally too much for her. As advanced the technology is between this and the last century, nothing has changed and she hated it. The air was dirtier than before, the numbers of the hunters increased, and so did the beggars. Just thinking about the dangers in this city made her back prick in pain and fear.

Akari forced herself to calm down, wanting the dull ache in her back to disappear. Akari locked up her full suitcase. She picked up the flyer left on her bed, and stared at it for a bit, reading the words that were written on:

_Welcome to Waffle Island!_

_Our land holds some of the most wonderful landmarks, and we will welcome all visitors. _

_Enjoy the outdoors with our vast wildlife and waterfalls!_

_Help wanted: Willing Rancher for this island._

Akari read the corner with the "Help Wanted" sign over again, her heart beating in joy and excitement. She wanted that job no matter how 'Iffy' it sounded to her. The longing for freedom, to feel the fresh air again, Akari just couldn't wait any longer in this place.

Akari stood up and folded the flyer in her back pocket, confident in her choice. She then tilted her head slightly just enough to see a small bag filled with pieces of gold. Reaching out, Akari grabbed the bag, hoping that this would be enough for the trip.

Once Akari left her house, she then met the stinking smell of gas. No matter how long she lived here, it was impossible to get used to the atmosphere, the smell hurt her lungs, the debris in the smoke stung her eyes, and the rancid taste of soot sticks on the back of her throat. Pulling on the scarf she held over her mouth and nose, Akari made her way to the Docks.

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As Akari approached the docking areas, a middle-aged man was standing in front of a small ship, calling for others to board on. Akari quickened her pace, now in a light jog, and stopped in front of the man while digging in her pocket for the ticket she kept for this trip. In a small pant, Akari held out her ticket to the man as he gave a small grin in welcome. He took the ticket, punching a stamp of the side of the ticket, and Akari used this time to examine the kind looking man.

He was dressed like anybody who was working on the sea, and from his more formal wear, Akari guessed that he must be the captain of the ship. A regular sailor outfit was under his captain coat and under his captain hat, hints of gray hair was easily detectable.

"… please."

Akari blinked and looked up at the captain in confusion; he then repeated what he had said.

"Name please." He repeated.

Akari gave a nod in embarrassment and spoke out, "M-my name is A-Akari."

The captain gave a nod and held out his right hand. "It's very nice to meet you Akari, I, Pascal, will be your captain for this short voyage."

Akari returned the gesture with a small smile. "Yes, it's very nice to meet you too."

With the wave of a hand, Akari left upwards to get on top of the boat. The last noticeable things that Akari herd from the captain is his last call for the boarding. Akari looked at the stamp of the ticket and it said "Room 12". She started to make her way to the rooms, but a loud and distinct sound of compressed steam being let out for the first time echoed throughout the ship. Akari felt the ship starting to move as a small and sudden thrust pulled her slightly at the opposite direction. Excitement started to pound her heart, knowing that she is leaving right now to a place where it'll be safe, perfect, a life of miracles where she will enjoy for centuries to come.

Akari searched around the short hallway, looking for her room number. After a few seconds, she found the room right at the edge of the hallway. Entering the room, Akari scanned the small space that was given to her. There was a little bed at the corner and a small nightstand by it. The nightstand held one lamp, and knowing that this trip will only take about a few hours, there was no reason to get comfortable for the time being.

Setting her large suitcase on the bed, Akari loosened her scarf, glad to be breathing fresh air again. It was the first day of spring, a crispy morning it was too, as the season was just recovering from winter.

Akari left the room and started to walk up to the bow of the boat. She headed up to the railing and stared into the large expanse of sea before her. She took a glance back, seeing the polluted city well behind her now. Already, Akari felt so free, the sky was bright, and the sea was so very blue. Akari closed her eyes in content as the ocean breeze lifted her hair. The smell of the world, the sea, the feeling of cool mist, all of it was so very different from the dark, poisonous air she had to live with. It felt like the world was cleansing her from all of the impure dirt that shrouded her past. Right now, everything was absolutely perfect.

Akari took out the flyer and stared at it again. The island looked wonderful. Flourished land, clear skies, and beautiful rainbows that spread over the whole island, again came the feeling of anticipation, pure happiness, enveloping Akari.

For most of the day, Akari spent the whole time enjoying the blissful atmosphere, and examined the flyer with the promising island again. Everything that was happening as of now, it all seemed too good to be true.

Ever since Akari was born, many were after her; the power she held was kept hidden from the world. Her parents, they weren't human, they were pure breeds, all of their descendents were pure, but all of them were hunted down, and thus left Akari by herself. Of course, they didn't leave her unguarded. They left her a seal that dies down her magic essence, and kept her unnoticed. Yet, with the seal, Akari was still noticed, and has barely escaped the hands of the hunters. And now, Akari was given the chance of a lifetime, and she knew that everything will get better.

Akari stared at the ocean again, and noticed a small speck of land slowly getting larger and larger. Akari almost jumped up in joy as a large smile grew on her face. The island was so close, it felt within an arm's length, but the ship was not quite there yet. With the sun well above the sky, Akari's heart started to thud harder and harder after every inch the ship passed.

The ship finally stopped at the Docks and Akari stared at her new home, but only to find out that her heaven was not exactly what she thought it would be.

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*sigh~* This took much longer than it seriously needed to. -_- I'm sorry that I didn't get it in sooner, but nonetheless, I hope you liked the chapter~ ^_^


	3. Chapter 2 Introduction to the Island

BlackSwanSong (BSS): Hello everybody! I'm introducing a new feature to my story, and that's my little conversations with my dear characters! ^_^ So make sure to read the beginning and ending notes~!*smiles*

Akari: What do you mean by 'dear' characters? You call stranding me on a worthless island, escaping a polluted city, these "Hunters" trying to kill me, and I'm a magical being a way to show that I'm 'dear' to you? You sure know how to screw up plots and make them sound messed up in a way!

BSS: W-what do y-you m-mean? Anyways! Akari, get ready, and I will give thanks to a helpful reviewer of mine: **fangirl from Lunaescence **for helping me and giving me courage with my story, and iiRawrOwO who became a very helpful person to me! Thank you~! Akari?

Akari: *sigh~* BSS own nothing but her story, all of 'us' are rightfully owned by Natsume Productions… (Now doesn't that sound creepy?)

BSS: Yay! Hope you enjoy the story~

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Chapter 2- Introduction to the "Wonderful" Island-

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Akari stared at the island before her in complete shock. The island was a dull, barren place, and even with the sun out and shining on the island's features, the place was just too dreary. Akari's lifted heart was dragged down into disappointment. The island was just too different compared to the amazing flyer she found. Being too busy staring at the island, Akari didn't notice Pascal placing a plank over the ship to the docks. Only then when Pascal spoke out did Akari returned from her trance.

"Miss Akari. This is your stop, yes?" he asked.

Akari looked back at him, giving a nod and forcing a smile on her face to hide the displeased emotions behind her eyes. Walking back to her room to pick up her suitcase, she took a glance at the flyer still clenched in her hand, and walked out the room to the plank.

Akari unsteadily made her way down the plank, landing heavily on the dry sand below her. She turned to give a wave of goodbye to Pascal, and he gave a wave back as the ship turned and continued its journey to the deep blue. Akari turned around to face the island again, and slowly, with the feeling of discomfort rising in her stomach, walked a little ways out on the beach. She gave out a small frown, not sure as to what to do next now that's she's finally at the island of her 'dreams'.

"AH! ARE YOU THE ONE?" A loud and joyful voice practically screamed out.

Akari gave a startled shout and turned into the direction of the loud voice. Once she turned, her eyes met with the face of a short, stout man. Akari's eyes went round as she noticed him wearing a hopeful smile as his eyes looked up at her in awe.

"W-what do you mean?" Akari questioned with a dark blue hue rising on her face when the pudgy man was still staring at her with eagerness.

"Are you the one that's going to take up the job offer? Will you become our rancher? Will you stay here?" The man blurted out all of the questions at once, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Akari's face turned into a clearer blue as her nervousness grew. She gave a hardly noticeable nod and the man jumped up in joy, well, the jumps weren't really called jumps, more like the height of steps. He suddenly grabbed on of Akari's hands and shook them up and down at drastic distances.

"Hello! It'll be a pleasure to have you at our island! I'm the mayor, Hamilton! Once I saw the ship come by, I was just about to squeal with joy! It's also very nice to meet you!"

The man, now called Hamilton, kept shaking Akari's whole arm as he spoke out every word his mind thought of. Akari gave a lop-sided grin, not sure how to approach his welcoming speech, but she stopped as he gave an opening for her.

"Oh, how you must see our island! Come, I'll give you a personal tour of it, Miss…" Hamilton paused, most likely waiting for Akari to state her name.

"Akari. My name's Akari." Akari stated. She replied with her eyes closed so that he can't see her discomfort as he was trying his best to make her feel welcomed to the island. The mayor continued his sentence.

"Ah, yes, Miss Akari, it's a pleasure to meet you. Now for that tour…"

He finally let go of Akari's hand and started his way up a stairway a couple yards away from him. Knowing that there's nowhere else to go, she followed him to the stone stairs. Hamilton kept walking with a light and happy skip, and Akari gave a slightly appalled look as a man like him was capable of skipping like a little girl.

After some disgusted minutes of following Hamilton around as he was acting like a child, he finally stopped in front of a large, professional office house. Akari watched as he walked up the doors and opened them with his arms outwards like he's starting a grand opening of a new mall.

"This is Town Hall! New residents sign up here to become an official civilian of our island! Come in! Come in! We must fill you out as an official resident!" Hamilton announced.

Akari timidly walked through the large doors and took a look around the building. The place was mostly homely as there were some casual couches and rather less than sophisticated wallpaper. There was a large desk ahead, and a young woman was sitting there filling out documents. The lady looked up from her work and gave a small smile towards Akari's direction.

"Elli! Get the resident documents ready! We're going to finally have another addition to the island!" Hamilton shouted with a bright sense.

The young lady at the desk took out a pew papers and gave a glance at Akari to beckon her over. Akari did as she was signaled and she held out the papers to her.

"Hello. My name's Elli. If you don't mind, could you fill out these documents so that we can register you as an official civilian to our island?" Elli asked in a calm voice.

Akari gave a nod and took the papers. With a pen in hand, Akari looked over the document's questions, answering them as she went.

_Name: Akari Yukai_

_Age: … _

She gave a slight pause. Of course! Why didn't she think of an age that won't sound suspicious? Akari silently cursed at herself as of being stupid enough to forget about a reasonable age. She gave a few moments to think it over. 120 birthdays have passed since she was born, and knowing that she shouldn't be fondling over this question, she quickly took away the one.

_Age: 20_

_Birthday: Spring 1_

_Favorite Food: …_

Again, another pause stopped her. 'What kind of dumb, first grader question is this?' Akari yelled silently in her head. Her grip on the pen tightened a bit, both curious and angered as to why the island's officials would need to know this. With a small bead of sweat threatening to fall from her forehead, Akari just answered the question without another complaint.

_Favorite Food: Anything chocolate (Admittedly loves sweets and caffeine…)_

_Medical Conditions: None_

_Profession: Rancher_

_Married?: No_

Akari gave a sigh through her nose. She was finally finished, but she was beginning to have some second thoughts. Nevertheless, she handed the finished papers to Elli, and she gave a smile as she reviewed the papers.

"Right~ you're ready to go! We just need your signature and everything will be done." Elli explained as she placed the papers inside of a folder with a small blank tag at the top. She handed Akari the folder and at the tag, Akari signed it to seal the deal. Elli gave a soft smile and continued to speak.

"Thank you~ the mayor will take you to your new home and you can start today by meeting our other residents. I hope you enjoy it here at Waffle Island~"

Elli gave a small wave as Akari and Hamilton made their way out of Town Hall. With the doors closing behind them, Hamilton jumped back into his excitement of a new citizen again.

"Alright! It's finally time to show you to your new house!" He hollered as he walked, more like waddled, on a long trail past the docks. Akari followed, dragging her suitcase behind her.

After about ten minutes of endless walking, Hamilton finally stopped in front of a desolate house. Akari looked at the house in disbelief. The plot of land was quite large, but the house and everything around it was a wreck. The house looked more like a giant shack and a few missing and loose boards covered the roof. There was an unmoving windmill a few meters away, and a small shack by the house.

"Ah… It's a little beaten up, but it's a lot better than it looks. A few seeds and crops are already planted on your plot of land to get you started. This is where you'll live for here on, but before anything, I would like you to meet the others who live here. I know they'll be glad to see another person on this island!" Hamilton clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Well, good luck~" He finally turned around and started to make his way out of the barren farm.

As he gave a wave of goodbye, Akari returned the wave and started her way to her new 'home', but as soon as she turned around, she took in the sight of orange before gasping and tumbling to the ground. Akari's eyes widened into the size of unexpected surprise, and looked upwards quickly to confront whatever startled her. In front of her, a small fairy-like creature fluttered in front of her face, staring back with the eyes of complete curiosity. The little fairy dressed in orange began to waver around a little, and Akari's eyes never let off the small being. Then, it started to circle around Akari's head, its small, button sized eyes never leaving her face.

"Can this be the one…?" The little fairy whispered as it kept flying around her head like an annoying fly.

"Excuse me…?" Akari gave the same level of the whisper, unsure as to what to do in front of this little thing. The fairy gave a sudden jump when he/she/it (Akari is not sure what to call it) heard the words that escaped Akari's lips.

"Y-You can hear me?" it questioned.

"O-Of course. W-Why wouldn't I be able to? You're practically in front of me." A nervous Akari answered.

"YES! I found HER!" A loud yell rang in her ears.

The little fairy wandered off a little, flying around with its arms and a leg wiggling about like it's trying to dance. Akari took the awkward moment to escape and enter the worn down house, and with a slam and a "Hey! Wai-" from the fairy, Akari slid down from the door to a sitting position in absolute bliss of the silence and time to rest from the long travel.

'_That was really weird… What was that thing anyways?' _she thought to herself.

Akari shook the worthless thoughts from her head and took a look around her 'house'. Everything was properly in their place, and a red carpet floor with plain wallpaper gave a comfortable vibe to the whole house, in which was basically just a giant room. Akari let out a sigh, rethinking that this island won't be as bad as she first inferred.

"HEY!" A familiar yell sets a jolt that traveled up her spine, shaking everything else in turn.

The same little fairy with the oddly large head for its body popped up in front of her. Akari gave a yelp at the impossible odds of the fairy getting in so easily.

"Why did you just leave like that?" A whiny complaint left the creature.

"H-how d-did you get in here?" Akari exasperated.

"What do you mean? There were a bunch of holes in the house's roof; it's not a problem for someone who can fly like me." It explained. "Anyways, I'm Finn and I need to take you to the Goddess Spring!" Finn started to tug Akari's scarf that she kept on during the boat trip and struggled to fly towards the door behind her.

"You must come with me now! As soon as possible!" Finn strained as he (she's guessing now) pulled his best, but only Akari felt nothing meanwhile. Knowing that this isn't going to go anywhere at all, she gave into the little guy.

"Alright, Alright! I'll go with you to wherever and whoever you're taking me" Akari mumbled.

Finn gave a grateful smile, and fancied himself a seat on Akari's shoulder. Akari gave a sigh, and got up from her position, removing her scarf in the process. Leaving the house, Finn jumped up from her shoulder, getting excited again.

"Great! This way, this way! It's up the long trail, not too far from here!" Finn's stick hands pointed to a nearby trail that traveled upwards to what it seems to be a bridge from the distance. The two walked up the trail, but only to see a severed bridge and a young boy inspecting it with small grumbles to himself. Akari walked up to him, curious as to what he's doing.

"Umm… Is there something wrong?" Akari asked. The boy gave a start, turning around to see who just spoke.

"Oh. We haven't met before, have we? Well, I was off on a little errand here, but last night, a large storm came by, damaging the bridge back to the Garmon Mines district. So, are you new to the island?"

"Ah, yes. My name's Akari, I'm going to be the island's new rancher, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Bo. I work at the Carpenters, it's nice to meet you too, or it would've been nice if I hadn't left my toolbox back with the mayor… I was planning to go eat too, but I need to stay here to remove the damaged wood or it'll be too unstable to even stand on… ahh… What should I do?" Bo pondered to himself.

"Ah… I could go get your toolbox and lunch for you; I need to get up there anyways…" Akari suggested.

"Really? Thanks. I've been hoping to get a snack, a strawberry and some milk. If you don't mind doing this, the bridge will be repaired faster."

"Alright. No problem." Akari and Finn started to turn the other way, but Bo stopped them.

"Hold on! I want to give you this. It's a little used, but it should work properly. It's an axe, it takes a lot of lumber to build things, and this will help when you need the amount." Bo handed the axe to Akari.

"Thank you! I'll be back as soon as possible!" Akari swiftly placed her new axe in her rucksack, and ran off in the opposite direction to the Town Hall as she waved off to Bo.

* * *

BSS: Well? What do you think?

Akari: Too long for a short amount of time that passes.

Finn: Hey! D-did you really mean it when you thought that my head was too big for my body?

BSS: What do you mean too long? I can't help it! There's too much info. to put in this story!

Akari: So? It took you forever to put this in too. I wouldn't blame anyone who probably think that you're dead right now.

Finn: What about me? Akari? BSS? Is my head really that big?

BSS: But! But!

Akari: No! it's no good!

Both: Bo! What's your opinion?

Bo: Uwaa... o_o"

Finn: *whine* *groan* Geez... I hope you stay for the next chapter if they ever stop arguing... Is my head really that big?


End file.
